Thought I would share my experiences of late, experimenting with the tank and support meta. I realise for the masses, Judgement is a brand new game, in fact the game is not even out there yet.  However I have been living and breathing it for 15 months and have played well over a hundred games by now, in various incarnations. It is easy, when playing a MOBA style game, to go for the highest damage dealers, and stack your Warband full of Aggressors. There is nothing wrong with that of course! Rakkir, Zhonyja, Thorgar, they are great fun to play and can really dictate the flow of the game, putting pressure on your opponent. However what started out as a game designer wanting to test the strength of the rule set, has turned into me really enjoying pushing the boundaries of Warband design and enjoying games without fielding an Aggressor. 

The first thing you need to ensure is having the ability to soak up damage, so obviously a tank or 2 is essential. All 3 Defenders in the 1st wave perform that task very well, so essentially it comes down to personal choice. At the moment I am running Thrommel, partly because we already have his model completed, and secondly, if you prioritise him in your level up strategy he becomes an absolute monster by level 3. Even just getting him to level 2 is a massive boost, and you can do that early in the game by giving him last hit on the nearest neutral monster in most maps. Running Thrommel with either Doenrakkar or Marcus can really put a dent in your opponent’s plans, they just provide an obstacle even the best Aggressors struggle to deal with.

The other key to soaking up damage is then having the ability to heal up your heroes throughout a turn. Heroes like Bastian, Haksa and Saiyin all bring great healing and utility to the table, boosting your other heroes and hindering your opponent. The main concern with not running Aggressors is lacking the damage to get you over the line, however there are two paths to victory in Judgement. And whilst killing enemy heroes is always good, being able to reliably harvest souls is a more than viable way to win the game.

The other inherent advantage that a tank oriented Warband has is the ability to control objectives. The player that wins the Fate war invariably wins the game, being able to consistently pump out your hero’s Fate abilities as well as the great healing potential Fate provides can easily swing a game in your favour.

This is the list I have been running with of late:

Thrommel
Doenrakkar
Bastian
Haksa
Saiyin

Bastian is incredible in this Warband. Boosting Doenrakkar, Thrommel and Haksa to a MEL of 7 is amazing, particularly when you combine that with the Vorpal Blade  on one of them. Then he has the ability to heal them and remove de-buffs. He does some serious work in this list. Haksa, with a base RES 1 is a great off-tank and his idols are a constant thorn in your opponent’s side. And finally Saiyin combines an amazing power to harvest souls whilst regenerating your Warband over time.

I am going to continue to experiment in the non-aggressor meta and may even film a battle report in the near future. Watch this space.

Guns